We have taken a long look back at the history of comic book movies and have determined the five best superhero costume upgrades we’ve seen within single franchises. Read on to see which designs made the cut!

Prior to the release of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, one thing that star Nicolas Cage remarked was different about the sequel from the original was that in the new movie he would actually be playing The Rider, and not some stunt double. What you may not know, however, is that before the visual effects were applied Cage had his face painted like a skull and wore a bunch of glow-sticks on his head. True story.

As four day weekend holidays go, this Presidents Day weekend hasn't been very kind to new releases. Safe House, which traded places with last weekend's number one The Vow, held on to the top spot through Monday, and The Vow held on to second place. But Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, which had debuted at third place for Friday through Sunday, got bumped to fourth by the more popular Journey 2.

There are some splashy new movies out in theaters this weekend, and yet neither of them are looking capable of tackling the monster hits from last weekend. Early box office numbers from Friday indicate that The Vow and Safe House are looking strong enough to top the box office this weekend

On paper, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance sounds like exactly the kind of 3D movie you want to see. Shot by the Crank masterminds Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine, and featuring Nicolas Cage as a giant flaming skull, Spirit of Vengeance ought to be the kind of big, brash action movie that can only get more over-the-top and fun with the addition of 3D

At this point you may know Idris Elba because you're a really big fan of The Wire, and who can forget Stringer Bell? But no matter who you are, it's going to be hard to avoid the guy in the coming months. He had a major supporting part last year as the all-seeing Heimdall in Thor, in June he'll be part of the inter-stellar crew in Ridley Scott's Prometheus

After finally kicking my Super Bowl hangover sometime around Wednesday afternoon I dusted the cobwebs off and got back to the task hand: thinking incessantly about movies and their critical Tomatometer score. Need to keep this gravy train rolling. This week we’re going to war and lighting our heads on fire

At Comic Con last summer, the presentation for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance opened with a behind-the-scenes featurette. Rather than simply featuring some ordinary scenes and talking head interviews, the video showed a bit more - namely how absolutely insane directors Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine are. The preview had shots of the filmmakers riding behind motorcycles on roller blades, flying through the air with stuntmen, and much, much more.

Even though the original film was pretty much forgotten the moment it came out, the sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance has been heavily promoted for months now. With Nicolas Cage returning as the flame-skulled Johnny Blaze, there's really only one key difference this time: Brian Neveldine and Mark Taylor, the duo behind the Crank films

Mark Steven Johnson’s Ghost Rider wasn’t good, but it was successful. The comic-book adaptation made $115 million at the box office which earned it the right to attempt a sequel. Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, helmers of two Crank flicks, were hired for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, which arrives in theaters in February.

Sony Pictures is the first major studio to hold a panel in the IGN Theater at New York Comic Con, and though they announced it as just being for Ghost Rider, they brought footage from several of their upcoming projects and required 3D glasses to view it. I wasn't planning to liveblog it until the extra footage became part of the presentation, so here's what I've been able to type up

Obviously, this looks like no comic book movie we've seen before, and Neveldine and Taylor's trademark gonzo camerawork is in full display, with that fiery chain whipping around, Ghost Rider's motorcycle running directly into the screen, and other camera tricks that I can't even name but can tell what a difference they make

Nearly a full month after watching the footage at Comic Con, I'm still flabbergasted by how excited I am about Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance. As much as I hate the 2007 Mark Steven Johnson film, the sequel, helmed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, looks absolutely nuts and has the potential to be a lot of fun. With the film set to be released on February 17, 2012, it probably won't be too long until the first teaser trailer is posted online, but today we have the first one-sheet to hold you over.

Of all of the footage I saw at this year's San Diego Comic Con, I don't think anything impressed me more than Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Before the convention I could think of few things worse than sitting through a direct sequel to Mark Steven Johnson's 2007 film, but it turns out that I underestimated the raucous insanity of directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.

As you can see in the press conference video, Nicolas Cage is a weird quote machine. He delivers a few beauties about cobras, compasses (?) and the difference in portraying a live-dead man in Drive Angry and a live man possessed by a demon. I'd explain it better if I understood what the hell he was talking about

You can’t really count me among the fans of the Nicolas Cage-starring Ghost Rider (in fact, I actually hate it) but there’s a bit that intrigues me about the sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, namely the directors Neveldine and Taylor. The directors of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are basically insane

We went through the exhibition floor with a laser-like focus on all the movie and TV exclusives, which ranged from a replica of the new bike featured in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance to an exact replica of the mockingjay pin worn by Katniss in The Hunger Games

For the past few months we've had a pretty good idea of what will happen in Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor's Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. According to previous reports, the sequel will see Nicolas Cage's Johnny Blaze come out of seclusion when the devil makes plans to inhabit his mortal son's body and ascend to Earth.